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Reviewed by:
  • Sidney Lumet: Interviews
  • Ken Dvorak
Joanna E. Rapf , editor. Sidney Lumet: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi, 2006. 200 pages; $20.00.

Little Guy

Author Joanna E. Rapf has meticulously collected twenty-one interviews about film director Sidney Lumet (b.1924), contributing to the Conversations with Filmmakers series published by the University of Mississippi Press. These outstanding interviews, including two translated for the first time into English, complement the author's own interview with this multi-faceted "reluctant auteur" (110). Lumet's film production is prestigious: forty-two films over a span of forty years. He is perhaps best known for the critically acclaimed Twelve Angry Men (1957), Serpico (1973), Dog Day Afternoon (1976), Network (1976), The Verdict (1982), and most recently Find Me Guilty (2005). Lumet characterizes his films for showcasing "men who summon courage to challenge the system," highlighting the "little guy against the system" (vii). For those unaware, Sidney Lumet received an Honorary Academy Award in 2005, numerous Oscar nominations for Best Director, and has the D. W. Griffith Award for Lifetime Achievement (1993).

A lifelong New Yorker, Lumet began his theatrical career at age four, his Broadway debut at eleven, and appeared in Sidney Kingsley's film Dead End (1939) at fifteen. Discharged from the army after WWII, he made his television debut for CBS directing the series Studio One and Danger. Lumet's film directing career began with the critically acclaimed Twelve Angry Men in 1957. Throughout his prolific career Lumet has been labeled by his admirers as a "Hollywood" outsider content to showcase New York's gritty, high-energy, ethnic neighborhoods filled with crime and corruption but whose stark urban landscapes are important to his films (viii). The interviews are an eclectic mix showcasing Lumet's thoughts on film and stage production, directing, and, most interestingly, his working relationships with Hollywood's featured actresses and actors. The Lumet interviews are listed chronologically, beginning with Peter Bogdanovich (1960) and concluding with Joanna Rapf (2003).

For the film scholar there is not a great deal of "new" material as the interviews have appeared previously in Film Quarterly, Films and Filming, Films in Review, and on the Internet. Included in this collection are two translated interviews that scholars may find useful: "A Conversation with Sidney Lumet" by Michel Ciment appearing in the French Positif (1982) and an "Interview with Sidney Lumet" by Chantal de Bechade from La Revue du Cinema (1982). Both provide an interesting French perspective on Lumet's work.

Noteworthy interviews in this collection and recommended reading include Don Shewy's "Sidney Lumet: the Reluctant Auteur" (110-121) and Gordon Gow's "What's Real? What's True?" (53-64), providing unique insights into Lumet's films Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict.

Film scholars may find this collection of essays interesting, however, they are highly recommended as a resource for students exploring the world of the film "auteur." The author provides a personal chronology of Lumet's life and a complete filmography of his work. Many admire Sidney Lumet's career, and Joanna E. Rapf's book will add to the tributes surrounding one of America's most distinguished filmmakers.

Ken Dvorak
San Jacinto College
kdvorak@houston.rr.com
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